Ronnie O'Sullivan fired notice of his hunger to land a sixth world title as he ruthlessly saw off Shaun Murphy to reach the quarter-finals of the Betfred World Championship in Sheffield.

The five-time winner marched on at the Crucible with a 13-7 victory over an opponent who had a match to forget.

Over the course of the contest, O'Sullivan fired two centuries and nine further breaks over 50, showing no sense of a hangover from the controversy he sparked with criticism of Barry Hearn and snooker's governing authorities last Sunday.

A satisfied O'Sullivan waved to the crowd as he strode on to a clash with either Ding Junhui or Liang Wenbo.

Murphy said: "I thought Ronnie played really, really well in the whole match and if he plays like that with that kind of focus I think he'll win. "I don't subscribe to all this 'not being bothered' stuff he comes out with. He certainly looked like he was trying to me.

"If he turns up to his next match with that level of focus, then whoever he plays next is in trouble."